Federal Education Loans in Health Care Field

Find here information on education loans awarded by the federal government to help single moms pursue a career in the health care field. These programs support single mothers with tuition assistance, loan repayment, in exchange for several years of dedicated service in the health care field.

General Research Loan Repayment Program

Program Description
The program recruits and retains health professionals performing research in fields required by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to carry out its mission by providing educational loan repayment for participants with substantial amounts of educational debt relative to income. Program participants agree by written contract to engage in laboratory or clinical research as employees in the intramural research program of the NIH for a minimum 3-year period. The maximum program benefit participants can qualify to receive is $35,000 per year in loan repayments and $13,650 per year in Federal tax reimbursements. Recipients must agree by written contract to engage in clinical or laboratory research, initially, for a minimum of 3 years. Continuation contracts for 1-year terms are available, dependent upon the level of debt and continued involvement in research as an employee in the intramural research program of the NIH.

Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program

Program Description
To assist in the recruitment and retention of professional nurses dedicated to providing health care to underserved populations, the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program offers registered nurses substantial assistance to repay educational loans in exchange for service in eligible facilities located in areas experiencing a shortage of nurses. For two years of service, the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program will pay 60 percent of the participant’s total qualifying loan balance; for three years of service, the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program will pay 85 percent of the participant’s total qualifying loan balance. A participant who agrees to serve two years may be eligible to amend the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program contract and work a third year at an eligible health facility, for which the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program will pay an additional 25 percent of the qualifying loan balance.

Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program

Program Description
In exchange for a two-year commitment to your research career, NIH will repay up to $35,000 per year of your qualified repayable educational debt, pay an additional 39% of the repayments to cover your Federal taxes, and may reimburse state taxes that may result from these payments.

General Program Requirements
In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must be a U.S. citizen (or U.S. national or permanent resident) and have a M.D., Ph.D., Psy.D., Pharm. D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M., D.C., N.D., DVM or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited institution.

Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program

Program Description
In exchange for a two-year commitment to your clinical research career, NIH will repay up to $35,000 per year of your qualified educational debt, pay an additional 39% of the repayments to cover your Federal taxes, and may reimburse state taxes that result from these payments.

General Program Requirements
In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must be a U.S. citizen (or U.S. national or permanent resident) and have a M.D., Ph.D., Psy.D., Pharm. D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M., D.C., N.D., or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited institution. {NOTE: Applicants with a doctorate of veterinary medicine (D.V.M.) are not eligible for the Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program unless they also hold one of the degrees listed above}.

AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program

Program Description
The AIDS Research Loan Repayment Program helps to assure an adequate supply of trained researchers with respect to AIDS at the National Institutes of Health by providing for the repayment of educational loans for participants who contractually agree to engage in AIDS research as employees of the NIH. Recipients must agree by written contract to engage in AIDS research, initially, for a minimum of two years. Continuation contracts are available, dependent upon level of debt and continued involvement in AIDS research, and are issued for one-year periods. Maximum program benefit is $35,000 per year in loan repayments and $13,650 per year in Federal tax reimbursements. Recipients must have qualified educational debt equal to or in excess of 20 percent of their annual NIH salary.

General Program Requirements
In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must be a U.S. national, citizen or permanent resident qualified/certified/licensed for laboratory or clinical research, who is or was a health care professional, has student loan debt, and either completed doctoral level education or is in pursuit of a nursing degree.

Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

Program Description
The program supports the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Program in recruiting and retaining health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds to conduct clinical research at the NIH by providing for the repayment of educational loans for participants with substantial amounts of educational debt relative to income. Participants agree by written contract to engage in clinical research as employees of the NIH for a minimum two-year period. Maximum program benefit is $35,000 per year in loan repayments and $13,650 per year in Federal tax reimbursements.

General Program Requirements
In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must be a health care professional and US national, citizen, dual citizen or permanent resident who is qualified/certified/licensed in laboratory or clinical research or has a nursing degree. You must also characterize your financial situation as low income or very low income.

Extramural Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

Program Description
The ECR-LRP is a congressionally mandated loan repayment program that was established by the Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services through the Director of NIH. The objective of the ECR-LRP is the recruitment and retention of highly qualified health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds to clinical research careers. The emphasis on clinical research and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds highlights the need for the involvement of a cadre of competent physician scientists in clinical research. Such a cadre of clinical investigators have the potential of impacting the medical processes within their communities by engaging in as well as promoting the development of clinical research programs that reflect an understanding of the variety of issues and problems associated with health status.

A non-profit institution must support applicant’s research, foundation, professional society or U.S. government entity (Federal, state, or local), and applicants must commit 50% or more of their time, or not less than 20 hours per week, to health disparities, or clinical research.

General Program Requirements
In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must have student loans greater than or equal to 20% of your institutional base salary and you must have completed doctoral level education.

Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program

Program Description
The Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program provides repayment of student loans to health and allied health professions in order to assure an adequate supply of trained health professionals necessary to maintain accreditation of, and provide health care services to, Indians through Indian health programs. There is a service obligation and payback requirement for participants of the LRP.

General Program Requirements
In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must have student loan debt. You must also be qualified/certified/licensed in dentistry, family medicine, internal medicine, geriatric medicine, psychiatry, as a nurse or nurse anesthetist, or you must be a current or prospective student accepted or enrolled in an accredited degree program, college or university.

Contraception and Infertility Research Loan Repayment Program

Program Description
The Contraception and Infertility Research Loan Repayment Program (CIR-LRP) is designed to provide an incentive for health professionals to work in areas of reproductive research directly related to contraceptive development and/or infertility diagnosis and treatment by providing assistance in repaying educational loans for individuals. The CIR-LRP will pay up to $35,000 of the principal and interest of a participant’s educational loans for each year of commitment not to exceed one-half of the remaining loan balance. In addition to the loan repayments, the CIR-LRP may pay participants up to 39 percent of the amount paid to lenders as partial payments on the increased income tax liability caused by the Program’s loan repayments. In return for these loan repayments, applicants must agree to commit to a period of obligated service of not less than 2 years conducting research with respect to contraception and/or infertility.

General Program Requirements
In order to qualify for this benefit program, you must be qualified/certified/licensed for laboratory or clinical research, you must be or have been a health care professional, and you must be pursuing a doctoral, master’s, research fellow, clinical or nursing degree.